


Scattered Stars

by LadyNovaJade



Series: Across the Galaxy [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, BB-8 is still a matchmaker, F/M, Fluff, Force Sensitive people, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Separation, and Jayah is finding her way, and Leia is still the best badass space mom, and Poe is still fucking smitten, and lots of adventure, and some smut, but I'm not telling you who yet, some mention of torture both physical and mental, there will be lots of fluff, violence and battle scenes too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 13:07:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16264817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNovaJade/pseuds/LadyNovaJade
Summary: Poe Dameron and Jayah Kryal have completed the mission set forth by General Leia Organa. But their victory is short lived. After only a few weeks together, the two are separated on different paths once more — missions of the upmost importance across the galaxy from one another.Poe is tasked with finding recruits, gathering supplies, and picking up any information on the First Order he can find. It’s busy work, but important and he must remained focused to keep from giving the Resistance away. But he can’t ignore the familiar pull of Jayah, even when she is lightyears away…Jayah’s mission is to help Finn and Rey, who travelled to Ilum in what Leia fears is a failed attempt to find kyber crystals. After several days of no response, the General sends Jayah to find them. But Ilum is a dangerous, barren wasteland and Jayah cannot help but fear something sinister awaits her on the frozen planet in the form of something she could have never prepared for.





	1. Prologue: Shadows of the Future

| Prologue: Shadows of the Future |

In the deep quiet of meditation was where balance rested.

That’s what the liar _Luke Skywalker_ had told them, when they were young. Gathered around the Jedi Master, innocence seeping from every pore of them, he prattled along about the balance of light and dark, before ranting and raving on the treachery of the Dark Side.

It had always seemed so wrong … if the Dark Side was a part of the Force, it could not all be bad, could it? Shouldn’t the greatest of all Jedi Masters — he who saved Darth Vader, who had taught himself the ancient ways — understand the Force and its reasons?

Skywalker was supposed to guide them, lead them down the path. He asked for their trust; blindly they all gave it. And then he betrayed them. Tried to kill one of their own — his own _nephew_ — out of fear.

 _No,_ this man — this Knight of Ren — thought, _Luke Skywalker was not a Jedi Master. The masters of the Jedi would not have been cowards like Skywalker had._

He was the weak one, Kylo had told them all as he gathered them, weak and powerless. Not fit to be the offspring of the great Darth Vader. But they, the Knights, could be so, so much more. And they had done just that. They had risen above the pitiful Jedi teachings. The Knights of Ren were stronger than Skywalker could have ever hoped to see them become. Or perhaps he did and that was what he feared in the end.

But the Knights were scattered now; flung to the far reaches of the galaxy for the means of the Supreme Leader or for their own reasons. His mission was more than he could ever ask for.

“Sir,” a soft voice — the bridge officer who constantly thought in fears and timidness — interrupted his thoughts. “I am sorry to intrude, but you asked to be informed when we came into orbit.” 

The Knight rose slowly, breathing deep and allowing himself to come out of his meditation with no rush. His gloved hand simply waved the officer off, and the younger man scurried out, relief coming off him waves. It was _disgusting_ , how the First Order allowed men such to join. An army was only as good as its weakest link, and that link was pathetic. It made his skin crawl with distain. 

Though he believed nothing in the crazed rhetoric of the First Order, it was a means to an end. As a Knight of Ren, he believed in a higher plane that he and his fellow knights were a part of, that flowed and breathed with the Force. Lower beings such as the officer who just scurried out would never know the bliss of the Force and what it could do. Too simple to comprehend it.

That had been Skywalker’s failing. They had all agreed. Part of him — a part he kept behind a wall that would never be breached — threw Snoke in the lot with Skywalker as well. But Kylo had been adamant the man knew the path they had all desperately sought. And as the leader of the knights, he followed Kylo in service to the Supreme Leader.

He gently lifted his helmet from the stand that sat next to him and slipped it into place over his head, waiting as the systems inside booted up.

As he waited, his mind slipped into the calmness of the Force for one brief more moment, and he felt a shift. A presence he had never encountered before during his meditations. A brief flash of a figure, standing in one of the long mine tunnels on the planet below. This person glowed with light, even in the darkened tunnel, and exuded a presence that he felt deeply. It tugged at him harshly, called to him sweetly …

 _A Force sensitive_ , was the first thought which flitted through his mind. But that could not be possible. Not here at this stars-forsaken planet. No one had been here since the fall of the Empire. And if they had been, they could not survive the planet without an army which he possessed on the ship.

_Perhaps it is something to come._

Yes … the Force could show the future in times of deep calm and meditation, Skywalker had said. A shadow of the future, he had called it.

_A mystery for another time._

He turned and left his chambers, clipping his lightsaber to his belt as he went. No one on the ship would dare attempt to test him, but he still enjoyed the fear the weapon instilled in those around him.

Once he came upon the bridge, all around became silent and the officers greeted him with a salute.

“Master Ren, we have come into the planet’s orbit. As expected, there are no signs of life,” the first officer, a major, briefed him. “Some structures from the Empire remain, but all is abandoned.”

“Good,” his mechanical voice answered. “Send a team to the surface. Have them prepare the main mining structure. I will be on the planet in two hours and I want in the first mining shaft in four hours time, is that understood?”

“Of course, but …” the officer started.

He turned quickly, simply raising a hand to cause the man to stop his inquiry. “I hope, Major, that you were not about to question me.”

“Of course not,” the man replied, back straight as a rail, “I was only going to remind you that those mines have been stripped since the time of the Empire. There are no more kyber crystals on Ilum. They were all taken to power the Death Stars.”

The Knight Thres Ren smiled behind his mask and lowered his hand, “We shall see, Major. We shall see.”


	2. Chapter 1: Kaladria

[Chapter 1: Kaladria]

If Jayah Kryal were to die at that moment, she knew it would be a happy death.

But for the record, dying was the last thing she wanted to do.

Getting out of orbit of the Felucian moon had been a bit tricky, but both the A-Wing and Jayah held their own quite well. BB-8 only beeped at her once. She counted that as a win, especially when Poe laughed under his breath.

Jayah piloted the vessel out of the atmosphere easily and then there it was — the vastness of space before her. She swallowed hard, her heart ramming against her chest. It had been so long … so long since she had been amongst the stars. She felt like a giddy child, seeing it all laid out before her like it was the first time.

“Feels like coming home, right?” she heard Poe’s deep voice in her ear from his seat behind her.

Jayah nodded, tears gathering in her eyes. “Most definitely.”

Then, as they hovered in space for a moment, they both turned in their seats to see each other.

Poe Dameron — the pride of the Resistance, stubborn, sometimes insufferable flyboy — gave her a soft smile that melted Jayah’s heart.

Two weeks ago, she would have bet credits that nothing would have pulled her from her self-imposed exile on the sixth moon of Felucia. The mistakes of her past still haunted her dreams, causing her to not think of anything but living with what she had done on her own.

Then there was Poe. Poe, who smiled at her as if she made the stars in the galaxy. Poe, who made her feel better than the first time she flew in an X-wing. Poe, who felt like home and peace and everything that she thought she was not worthy of having. It wasn’t that he opened her eyes to anything about her past, or convinced her that she wasn’t at fault for what happened to her squads in both the Republic and Resistance. 

No … Jayah could say it was simply because Poe made her feel something other than complete despair. Made her feel as if she could get past the mistakes. That maybe … _just maybe_  … he loved her. And she wanted that love — which possibly was more terrifying than anything else. 

She wasn’t sure if her face gave away her thoughts, or if by some weird connection Poe could sense her fears — whatever the case, he reached forward and cupped her cheek.

Touch-starved for so long, Jayah leaned into his palm, her hand reaching up to cradle his against her, “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” he asked softly, warm, whiskey-smooth voice laced with his concern. “A lot has happened in the last 24 hours.”

He wasn’t lying — from what they thought was their final night together to a heavy, emotional conversation with Leia, then her agreeing to follow Poe across the galaxy to a lost base … quite a few things had emotionally drained Jayah.

“I’m sure. This is right,” she said with a nod, her gaze meeting his chocolate brown eyes which always made her melt. “It feels right, if not a little scary.”

That made a soft smile curl Poe’s lips, which in turn made Jayah for certain her decision was the right one.

“You ready to get out of here, flyboy?” she asked, answering his smile with one of her own.

“Most definitely, Commander Kryal.”

Her silly heart skipped, but she didn’t even mind.

Jayah turned back in her seat and adjusted her comm headset, double checking the coordinates she entered the day before. “How you doing back there, BB?” she said to the astromech droid loaded into the ship.

BB-8 whirled and beeped excitedly — punch it! He called back to her, causing Jayah to laugh.

“With pleasure, BB. With pleasure,” she responded, launching the ship into hyperspace.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Space was cold. One would think Poe wouldn’t forget that, since he had only been out of a cockpit for almost two weeks. But the realization of how quickly the cycled air through the small space could turn icy hit him hard.

Or really, how hard it hit Jayah got to him first.

He didn’t have to be facing her to hear the first hard shiver that racked through her body. The sound of her teeth chattering and the breath that left her had him turning.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, barely catching her hands running up and down her arms bared in her tunic.

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s just … I’m not exactly dressed for hyperspace. I forgot how cold it could be.”

Her voice shivered as much as her body. Poe shift, pulling his leather jacket off and turning to gently run his fingers down her arm to grab her attention. “Here, this will help,” he said softly.

“What about you, though?” she asked, hesitating in taking the jacket.

Poe pushed it toward her, catching her gaze and smiling softly, “I’m warm blooded, don’t worry about me.” When she still seemed hesitant, he nudged her again, “Take it, Jayah. You need it.”

He watched her swallow hard and then try to not hastily slip her slim arms into the warm leather. A bit of satisfaction lit in Poe as he watched her snuggle into the beloved jacket, obviously taking a deep breath. When Jayah’s blue eyes jerked back to him, seeing him catching her in the act, he felt his heart jump at the blush that lit her cheeks.

“It smells like you,” she murmured.

A chuckle escaped him, “I sure hope it does. That’s my second favorite jacket. I wear the hell out of that thing.”

“Why your second favorite?” she asked curiously.

He drew in a deep breath, adjusting again so he could look at her comfortably, “Well my first one I gave to a friend who needed it more than me. He deserved it; it really looked better on him anyway.”

Jayah didn’t say anything right away, and he watched as she double-checked the coordinates. “Would you tell me about him? Is he … is he still with the Resistance?” she asked.

Poe hoped to hell Finn was still with the Resistance when he got back. Not that he thought Finn was desert the cause, not now. Especially with Rey joining the ranks. Poe’s eyes skimmed over what he could see of Jayah’s frame — Poe had not rightly understood why Finn had been eager to defy all odds, risk his life for a girl he had barely known. He got it now.

“Knowing Finn, yes. After the battle on Crait, he was determined more than ever to bring the First Order down.” Poe paused, turning back a moment and reclining back into his seat to ease the building ache in his back.

Jayah was silent for a moment, “Finn helped you at Jakku,” she said suddenly.

Poe nodded, though he knew she couldn’t see him. “He’s the one I told you saved my life.”

“Tell me more?” she asked again.

And he did. Told her how Finn had given up the information on Starkiller Base, which helped Poe and his squadron in their fight to destroy the First Order weapon. How Finn had faced down Kylo Ren and almost lost his life. Poe opened his mouth to tell her how Finn even helped him during the evacuation of D’Qar and the chase from the First Order … but that brought forward too many other things he had not admitted to Jayah yet.

When he got quiet, unable to tell her more, Jayah let out a large yawn, settling more into her pilot seat. The action had Poe sitting up and peering at her again, “Did you sleep at all before we left?”

She sighed, wrapping his jacket around her smaller frame, “Not really. I had trouble staying asleep and then I was packing all my things, supplies, and provisions for us …”

As she trailed off, Poe pursed his lips and tried to catch her gaze which wasn’t easy in the cramped cockpit, “What changed your mind?” he asked.

“Hmm?” her sleepy reply came.

“Why did you decide to come with me after all?” Poe asked softly, worried she still wouldn’t have heard him, but for some reason unable to speak any louder.

Jayah drew in a deep breath and he heard her shift, “When I couldn’t sleep, I got up and reached out to Leia,” she admitted just as quietly. Almost as if she were afraid he would judge her in some way. “I told her … I told her I didn’t know how I could come back after everything. She reminded me how we’ve all made mistakes, herself included, that ended in tragedy.”

The confession had Poe’s heart twisting painfully — not just for Jayah’s suffering, but for his cowardice for not admitting that they were the same.

“There’s nothing you can’t come back from, that’s what she said,” she continued, not picking up on his sudden quietness. Jayah pulled in a shaky breath. “But that’s not the only reason,” she said softly.

Poe’s thoughts and guilt were immediately whisked away at her quiet words. “What was the other reason?”

There was the sound of groaning leather as she twisted her body and looked over the top of the seat at him. “It was you. What else would it be?” she asked, the look on her face conveying she thought it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Poe swallowed hard, shaking his head, “Jayah, I didn’t want to assume …”

He wasn’t expecting her hand in his hair, tugging his gaze back up to her, “Hey, I practically pulled my heart out of my chest before we climbed into this thing. Why else would I go along?”

He willed his heart to stop ramming against chest, “A sense of duty?” he joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

Thankfully, he watched with a smile as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to stop a full laugh from leaving her. “That’s completely up for debate, so don’t test me, Dameron.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Commander,” he replied, reaching up and taking her hand from his hair, intertwining their fingers. “I wish I could kiss you right now without knocking my head.”

Jayah’s smile was lovely and bright. Instead of answering, she simply pulled their joined hands up and used her smaller frame to bend her head and brush her lips across his knuckles.

“Clever,” he smiled.

“Aren’t you glad I’ve come along then?” she winked, releasing his hand and turning back into the pilot’s chair.

“You have no idea,” he responded, checking some of the A-Wing’s systems to be useful. 

_Just let us get to Kaladria_ , Poe thought … well more like prayed to whoever may be listening. _Let us get there in one piece and I’ll tell her everything._

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The hours they were in hyperspace were spent with a few bits of conversation, but mostly Jayah slipped in and out of sleep. Having gotten so little before they took off, she couldn’t help it. It had been so long since she had done a long-mission trip like this, her body was out of sync with being in a ship … out of touch with space.

She tried to not let that bother her much — it really shouldn’t bother her at all. But it did.

So Jayah dozed, woke again to watch the stars and listen to Poe hum soft songs and talk with BB-8, and then slip back into sleep. Her dreams were scattered … most starred Poe, with some variations or twists on the morning when they left — her brain’s way of cataloging her memory she supposed. But every once in a while, when she would fall back asleep after shifting in the uncomfortable pilot’s chair, her dreams would turn. Poe being taken from her. A dark room and coldness. A grating voice she had heard before and the feeling of something tearing her mind apart.

An insistent beeping roused her from the latest bout of confusing dreams. Jayah yawned, shifting in the uncomfortable seat before sitting up and tapping the alarm off.

“Sweet dreams?” Poe’s voice filtered through and Jayah was never more happy that he couldn’t see her face.

“Occasionally,” she replied, bringing up the nav system as she prepared to pull the A-Wing out of hyperspace.

He answered with a grunt-like noise, “I never slept well in the cockpit either. Feels too weird, like I’m going to miss something.”

She was happy he didn’t push her on the subject and she found herself just nodding in agreement, though he couldn’t see her. The A-Wing’s nav system flashed and BB-8 whirled in her ear — they had reached the Kaladrian System.

“Thanks, buddy,” Jayah called into the headset to the astromech. “All right boys, cross your fingers. Pulling out of hyperspace in 3, 2, 1…”

As her sentence trailed off, she hit the toggle to drop the ship out of lightspeed. The stars around them settled and in front of them, looming large, was the planet of Kaladria. Greens, blues, and browns twisted together in the formation of land and water. From what Jayah remembered, Kaladria had been a fairly temperate planet — supposedly. In truth, the planet and the system had been myths.

Scans were reading no signs of activity, other than some possible native life, BB-8 sounded in their comm links.

“That’s a good sign,” Poe muttered, flipping and toggling the weapons system. Jayah knew he was just being prepared, but it made her go still for just a moment.

“BB-8, do you see any signs of this supposed base?” his voice shook her out of her moment and she concentrated on getting the ship ready for landing.

The droid was silent for a moment as it scanned the surface — nothing that triggers as a base, however there are many odd structures in the northern hemisphere that could be what they are looking for.

“That’s got to be it. Good job, BB. Can you get the coordinates locked into the ship and I’ll bring her round?” Jayah asked.

As they approached, something made Jayah’s skin prickle — this was all too familiar, except for the fact the last time she hovered about Kaladria, it was with her Republic squadron. Looking down at the planet now, Jayah realized she was the only one left … the only surviving member who had found Kaladria all those years ago…

“Does it look the same?” Poe asked suddenly.

She swallowed hard, clearing her throat, “More or less.” It was a cryptic answer, but by far the most honest she could give.

They didn’t say much else, except the standard talk two pilots have as they land on an alien planet — watch for that air pocket, updates on the ground closing in, temperature and gauge readings …

Entering the atmosphere of Kaladria had been a cake walk compared to Felucia VI. There was a slight breeze, BB-8 reported, but no weather blips in the atmosphere where they were projected to land. Also, it was considerable cool compared to Felucia.

Jayah heard Poe chuckle, “Thanks for the info buddy. I’m sure it’ll be a blessing compared to this cockpit, huh?”

Jayah landed the A-Wing softly, the touchdown barely rattling either pilot and for the first time in three years, she felt like everything had gone right — she had no guilt, no burning ache. She was a pilot, had just completed a flight … she was where she belonged.

Poe popped the cockpit shield and the rush of temperate air came flooding in, along with warm, blissful sunshine. Jayah felt herself sigh in relief, greedily taking it in. Cycled air sucked, especially in hyperspace. And especially for hours at a time. Everything became stale to the point she could even taste it in the back of her mouth when she took in a breath. She definitely had not missed that aspect of space.

Jayah reached over to her right, grabbing a lever, “You ready, BB-8?” she asked. With a beep of affirmation, she tugged the lever, triggering the mechanism that took the little droid to the ground.

Once she made sure the rest of the ship systems were shut down and secured, she glanced back at Poe, “Ready?”

He nodded, allowing her to climb out first before he followed. Standing on the planet surface for the first time, Jayah took a step or two away from the A-Wing and gazed around. It looked … more tame than Felucia VI. It was definitely less hot, to which she was grateful. The overgrowth and trees didn’t even seem too wild. She crinkled her brow and turned to Poe.

“For being abandoned for almost 30 years, this place doesn’t give me a wild kind a feeling,” she said as he came up beside her.

Poe smirked, “Wild kind of feeling, huh?” he teased.

Jayah rolled her eyes, “You know what I mean.” She took a deep breath, glancing around again, “I can’t help it but, I have a bad feeling about this.”

“You think maybe others have been using it and they’ll come back?” he asked, turning serious.

She shrugged, “It always was a possibility wasn’t it?” Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth as she worried on it. “I hope I’m wrong.”

“Well, we won’t find out standing here worrying about it,” he said gently, pressing a warm palm to the small of her back before he kissed her temple. “Come on, let’s grab some provisions and get BB-8 to do some scans.”

It was nice to have something to do and distract her — Poe and Jayah worked to free some of the food rations and water she had packed before leaving Felucia VI. With a few bags loaded up (a shelter tent in Poe’s and the comm link and BB-8’s charging board in Jayah’s, just in case they got stuck), they set off into the forest, BB in the lead with his scans.

The air wasn’t suffocating — that was probably what Jayah enjoyed the most. If it weren’t for the fact that this base was so important to the survival of the Resistance, she would allow herself more joy in their trek. BB-8 continued to call back updates, breaking up the silence as they walked — life forms were very much present, but they seemed to just be native wildlife, not at all concerned about the three of them.

For the most part, Jayah and Poe stayed silent and alert, taking in their surroundings as they moved.

“You know what this place reminds me of?” he asked quietly after a few moments, coming up to Jayah’s side. “Endor’s moon, the one where the Rebels disabled the shields and allowed the final Death Star to be destroyed.”

Jayah knew the story well — anyone who had flown in the Republic knew it by heart. How the small but fierce squadrons of the Rebel Force took on the Death Star and its fleet of Destroyers and TIE fighters. How they almost were a lost cause until Han Solo and his Pathfinders were able to win the scrimmage on the moon’s surface and disable the shields.

“You’ve been to Endor?” she asked, a little skeptical but mostly jealous. His mother and father both were apart of the battle, it would make sense that he had been.

“Oh yeah,” Poe grinned, obviously reading her emotions as he put his hand on her lower back again and she felt calm at its presence. “Mom wanted to see it again. Just for fun … or so I thought at the time. I was pretty young. I think she was just trying to teach me as much as she could before …”

He trailed off and Jayah looked over, seeing him bow his head at the memory. Pursing her lips, she moved a small step closer to him and reached up to press a soft kiss to his cheek. The action had him moving his brown eyes to her and smiling softly, if not sadly.

“What was it like, Endor?” Jayah asked, hoping to steer the conversation back to safe ground.

Poe took a deep breath, his hand dropping from her back and instead taking hers. He intertwined their fingers, “Tall, tall trees. There was some underbrush, but nothing like the jungles back home on Yavin IV. Very easy to walk around, see what was coming at you,” he explained. “But the trees … Stars, they were tall as all hell. And there were a lot of them.”

Jayah looked around at the trees surrounding them, then tilted her head up to gauge their height, “I’d love to see it someday. Yavin too.”

He didn’t say anything in reply to that and when she turned her gaze to him, Poe grinned brightly. “You’d come to Yavin with me?” he asked.

It had not even occurred to her when she said it what the notion really meant. Her heart jumped a little nervously — Yavin was Poe’s home. As far as she knew, his father was still alive and working their farm there. One day, he told her back when their days were spent learning about one another, Poe said he wanted to hang up his wings and take over from his father. It was so simple compared to fighting in a war, but Poe seemed to think such a life was possible and would be fulfilling for him.

Jayah had to be honest — she doubted that. Going from being the best pilot in the Resistance, risking life and stars knows what else in dog fights and reconnaissance, in spy missions and secret tasks? It seemed a far fetched dream.

But now …

She had been convinced a week ago she would spend the rest of her days alone in a jungle … now the thought of spending those years in a different jungle, with Poe …

Jayah came to a stop, tugging him with her and turning her body to his. “I would,” she said softly, searching his eyes. “If you’d have me, I would go.”

Poe’s breath seemed to hitch at her words and an expression she had only seen once or twice from him softened his features. He pursed his lips together, his free hand reaching up and gently cupping her cheek. “Jayah, I…”

BB-8 whirled and buzzed as he doubled back toward them — the little droid had went on ahead after they stopped, Jayah now realized.

“Wait, slow down, buddy,” Poe started, kneeling down in front of the droid. “You saw what?”

In the string of fast binary BB-8 spoke, all Jayah got was, “Big feathery thing.”


	3. Chapter 2: A New Hope

[Chapter 2: A New Hope]

BB-8 was not a droid prone to exaggeration. That was one of the things Poe always loved about the little guy.

When he first stood in line with the other pilots of his squadron after graduation, ready to pick out an astromech, Poe knew as soon as he saw BB-8 that the droid was the one he wanted. An hour of arguing with the techs (he wasn’t going to back down and he was stubborn enough to always get his way), BB-8 rolled along the hallway behind him to Poe’s quarters that evening.

“Skittish my ass,” Poe said under his breath once he sat on his bunk and came eye to eye with BB-8. “They sure are closed minded, aren’t they, buddy?”

BB-8 chirped — Poe had no idea. BB-8 had passed all its preliminary scans, scored high on all function tests, and had been the only astromech to diffuse a overheating simulation in an X-Wing while also boosting thrusters and power into the phaser cannon.

Poe had grinned brightly, “You’re cheeky, I like that. You still have some protocols we’re gonna work on, but you don’t have anything to worry about. Those techs are gonna be blown away about how wrong they were about you.”

BB-8 had rolled back an inch and studied Poe — what protocol changes, Master?

“Well that’s the first one,” Poe said, standing and heading over to his tool kit. It had been his mother’s and he carried it around like a talisman since he joined academy. “None of this master stuff. The name’s Poe Dameron.”

The droid seemed aghast at his claim — but isn’t that wrong? Droids belong to masters …

Poe shook his head, turning back and smiling at BB-8, bending down to his level. “Nah, we’re teammates, little guy. We work together as friends.”

In all that time, BB-8 had never once let Poe down — the pilot never expected something like that to happen. Its personality grew and it truly became like an old friend; one that Poe knew inside and out.

So the frantic binary code BB-8 was hurling his way, describing something big with a lot of feathers, was enough to make Poe take the droid seriously.

“Come on,” he said quietly, tightening his hold on Jayah’s hand and tugging her behind him as BB-8 lead them on the path it already cut.

After a moment, the droid came to a stop at a spot where its scans first detected the creature. Poe ducked down, bringing Jayah with him as his eyes scanned down the small cliff they apparently found themselves on. And sure enough, below them were very large feathery things.

They were like the giant cousins of some of the birds that would fly over his head while he was in the fields on Yavin IV.

“Well, there’s something,” Jayah whispered as she gripped his hand and shuffled gently beside him.

Poe smiled, “Looks like dinner to me.” 

She rolled her eyes and gently nudged him, almost pushing him over, “ _You_ go get them then. BB-8 and I will track down the base.”

He chuckled softly under his breath, looking back down at the birds. “They are kind of beautiful,” he mused.

Next to him, Jayah cocked her head to the side as she studied them as well, “Yeah … they really are. I hope if the Resistance does come here, it won’t disrupt them too much.”

“What do you mean?” Poe asked.

She took a deep breath, “Wherever the First Order and Resistance goes in the galaxy, destruction follows. If we come here and are pretty hidden, then no harm. But if we’re ever discovered … we’ve sentenced every species on this planet to death.”

Poe felt the teasing smile on his face slip away. He had not thought of it that way at all. All the planets that were affected by the First Order, sure — Poe thought about that a lot and it made his blood boil. But it never occurred to him the Resistance’s role in it all. He suddenly thought of D’Qar — the evacuation, the laser cannons that had fired on the Resistance base and more than likely scorched a good part of the planet’s surface …

Part of him wondered if that was another reason Jayah had left the Resistance.

“BB-8, can you get us around without alerting them?” Jayah asked quietly after a moment, drawing Poe out of his thoughts.

The droid answered softly — of course, but it’ll be a long way around to get down the cliff.

“Well, I didn’t feel much like repelling down a cliff anyway,” she replied, her voice light as she flashed a smirk to Poe, apparently already moving on from their discussion.

The three moved around and down the natural decline of the cliffs, careful not to startle the flock of large birds chirping at each other and picking their unseen food (probably insects from the trees, Poe thought). BB-8 continued on a path that gave the birds a wide berth from the travelers. Added about 10 minutes to their original route, the little droid told them once they were far enough out to avoid detection, but it was worth it.

Poe smiled — couldn’t fault that logic.

He didn’t think about or realize that when they landed it had to be well into the afternoon — after a few hours of walking, exploring, and following BB-8, the sun started to dip down toward the horizon. Any other time, Poe would have thought it romantic — the woods around them had a mystical quality to them and the waning light created some beautiful colors in the forest.

“BB-8, how are we looking?” he asked softly, almost as if he worried he was going to break some spell they were in. Which was crazy …

The little droid beeped — with the pace they’ve been making, calculating in possible other lifeforms or situations they may encounter, it could be another three hours before they reach the main structure from the scans. That did not seem ideal with the darkening sky, it also noted.

“No, it sure doesn’t, buddy,” Poe agreed, surveying everything around them.

“What are you thinking?” Jayah whispered, coming up to his side.

He took a deep breath, “Shelter. Settling in for the night. Trying to get lucky and not have to drag out the tents.” He turned and gave her a small smile. She didn’t look rattled by any means, but he still reached out and let his hand trail down her arm softly.

Jayah nodded in agreement, pulling in a deep breath and adjusting the pack on her shoulders, “Maybe an abandoned lookout post nearby?”

Poe had to admit — and really, it was a stupid thing to feel good about — but it was nice to have someone on the same wavelength as him. Jayah had the same Republic Navy training as him; covering not only the basics of flight and air warfare, but the ins and outs of the Republic itself. What bases would have what buildings and personnel, what they could expect, how typical layouts and fortifications worked. The Resistance had taught them both how to be stealthy, to look for places to hide, to take advantage of situations.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking,” he said, giving her a smile before glancing around them once more. “What you got, BB?”

BB-8 chirped and buzzed through a scan, an alarm pinning its success — there was an abandoned hidden post about a half mile before them. Poe looked up, watching as a few clouds had started to form and bubble above them in the dying sunlight. “We best book it,” he suggested, taking Jayah’s hand and following the droid through the forest.

Close to 20 minutes later, the trio arrived at their destination — or what they could see of it. At one time, Poe imagined the post had been hidden well. But the years had not been kind to the Rebels’ compounds. Part of the outerwall was crumbling, giving away its strategic location. But after some quick scans from BB-8 and a little poking around by Poe and Jayah, it looked sound enough to house them for the night …

_And the rain_ , Poe thought as thunder rolled slowly in the skies above them.

Between the two of them, they were able to find a good spot in the back of the post that left them enough room to spread out and sleep, as well as build a small fire — while the open spots of the roof were not completely ideal, they would allow for ventilation.

By the time their fire was lit, sleeping bags unpacked, BB-8 settled into his portable charging station, and their meal eaten, dark had settled over Kaladria and the rain had come in quietly and gently.

“Kind of reminds me of the first night I met you,” Jayah said suddenly.

Her words caught Poe off guard; he had been picking at the last bits of his food, his mind in a million different directions concerning their next steps. His eyes jerked over to her, seeing her head tipped up and a soft smile on her face as she looked up at the dark sky.

He couldn’t help but chuckle softly, shaking his head, “Yeah, you’re right.” He paused, sitting his plate down and sighing contently. “I was sans a little clothing that night, I believe,” he teased, winking at her.

Jayah scoffed, rolling her eyes as she looked over at him and laughed. “You were so kriffing cocky too. Swooping in like you owned the damn place.”

Poe watched her, feeling like his heart was full. His lips curled into a soft smirk. “If I recall correctly, you were the one staring, Commander.” He added the rank to tease her. Seeing her cheeks flush in the fire light confirmed his plan worked.

She ducked her head for a moment, tucking her hair behind her ear before she turned her face back up to him. This time, her eyes looked determined — Poe couldn’t decide if that was a good thing yet. BB-8 was shut down in the corner and the only sounds around them were the rain falling from above and in the forest around the structure mixing with the crackles of the fire. 

Jayah stood slowly, stepping around her pack toward him and standing right next to his seat on a bit of concrete roof that had fallen in. Poe tipped his head to look up at her, a hand going out unconsciously to trail down the outside of her thigh.

She shifted until she was lowering herself into his lap, which Poe was not going to deny her. It had been too many hours since he held her and he was more than happy to accommodate her. He drew in a deep breath, watching his hands take hold of her hips, squeezing affectionately as she got comfortable. Jayah’s hands dived into his hair, carding through it and making him groan softly.

“I was staring. Because whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was attracted to you,” she spoke quietly, but her tone was steady and sure. Her fingers drug along his scalp and Poe was sure he made a humming sound that could have been mistaken for a purr.

“I wanted to hate you, so you’d go away and leave me alone again,” she continued, her voice getting quieter. Poe opened his eyes and found her looking everywhere but at him. “But … there was something that wouldn’t let me. And I felt guilty because even though you were a little too sure of yourself, you were just trying to do the right thing.”

He swallowed hard, dropping his gaze. Guilt felt heavy in his gut — there was so much she didn’t know, about what brought him to Felucia VI to find her. He had worked so hard to keep it from her, not because he felt it would change her opinion of him, but because he was ashamed. Jayah’s words confirmed what she thought of him, even in the beginning — a Resistance pilot with a good moral compass, just trying to do his job and do good.

How would that change when he told her the truth?

“Poe?”

Poe drew in a breath and looked up at her again — her blue eyes looked darker in the cast of the firelight. She gave him a questioning look, subtly shifting closer to him. “What is it?”

He pursed his lips. _I promised I would tell her…_

“I have to tell you something,” he started softly, arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her even closer so that he could lean his forehead against her and not have to look her in the eye. He was brave, sometimes, but not now. “It’s not gonna paint me in a good light either.” **  
**

Her hands stilled in his hair and he closed his eyes again, fearful that just maybe Jayah would think of him differently after learning the truth. But he couldn’t stop now.

And so Poe told Jayah what happened at the evacuation of D’Qar. Of his reckless plan to distract the destroyers and Dreadnaught so the transport ships could get away. Of how he disobeyed an order to take down the First Order’s deadliest ship. Of how _he_ sacrificed an entire bomber squad and found no problem with it.

How he planned the mutiny against Holdo and almost got Finn and Rose killed.

How it was all for nothing because the First Order still found them, still followed them, still killed nearly the entire Resistance’s main fleet and army.

And it was all Poe’s fault.

When he grew quiet, allowing the rain and fire to once again fill the silence, Poe realized a few tears had escaped and trekked their way down his face. He felt so many conflicting emotions over what happened — honor in fighting against the First Order, grief for the losses the Resistance endured, guilt for his reactions, and uncertainty …

Leia had reinstated him as a commander, but had he deserved that? Had he truly learned from his mistakes?

“Poe,” Jayah said softly, breaking through his thoughts. Her hands cupped his face and her thumbs brushed away his tears, “Look at me.”

He swallowed hard and turned to finally look up at her again. His heart could have burst from relief to see no judgment in her eyes. Nor was there pity either. Just a deep rooted understanding.

Jayah shifted her body, moving to straddle his lap and hold his gaze. “You can’t take all the blame for those events and heap it upon yourself,” she said softly, her fingers once again moving through his hair.

Poe pursed his lips and shifted his eyes away, “I had a responsibility, as a commanding officer …” he started, but then trailed off, knowing the argument had been had in his head a million times. “I can’t let go of that guilt, though. I can’t deny my mistakes.”

Jayah didn’t respond at first, and part of him said he deserved that — her silence felt like a testament to his mistakes.

After a moment, she pulled in deep breath and coaxed him to look up at her again. “Poe, you’re looking to me for forgiveness, but I can’t give you that,” she said softly, drawing a hand from his hair to gently trace her fingers over the line of his jaw. “It comes from you. You have to forgive yourself.”

Poe realized he was holding his breath as she spoke. He let the air out of his lungs with a soft whoosh before he leaned forward against her once more. Jayah wrapped her arms around his shoulders immediately, holding him close to her chest.

“I don’t think anyone would ask you to deny your mistakes. You can’t learn from something you do not recognize,” she continued softly. “Take it from me, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

That he couldn’t believe, and he shook his head against her, “Holdo said I was exactly what the Resistance didn’t need — a trigger-happy flyboy. And she was right. I did more harm than good.”

Jayah squeezed him tighter to her, “No, Poe. No. Yes, you made mistakes. Yes, bad things happened. But you continued on. You,” he heard her voice choke on her words. “I made similar mistakes and instead of owning up to it, I ran away. I was a coward and I hid away with my shame.”

Poe pulled back, looking up at her with concern in his wide eyes, “Jayah, … sweetheart, no.”

She was tearing up now too, squeezing her eyes shut as her fingers continued to trail through his hair. She shook her head, “Yes, Poe. I was.”

He pursed his lips, pulling her closer to him and resting his forehead against hers. She sniffled a little and it hurt him to hear it. So he just hugged her tighter.

“That’s why I hated you at first,” Jayah whispered, her hands clutching at him. “You were there, interrupting my exile, being everything I couldn’t be. Moving beyond the grief, the loss, and still fighting. I resented you for that. Because I wasn’t … I wasn’t strong enough to do that. To keep going.” 

“Jayah,” Poe shook his head as he cupped her face and made her look at him. “You _are_ strong. And you’re brave as hell. You pulled me out of that wreck, you saved me.” 

She pursed her lips and tried to shake her head, but Poe shifted and brought her up against him as he leaned in and kissed her deeply, slowly. He had done this before, when he couldn’t find the words to express to her how much she meant to him, how much he cared for her. He hoped their lips meeting now would help her understand how he viewed her, how he saw that she was more than she thought of herself.

After a few moments, the slow, deep kisses grew more heated. Jayah’s hips rolled against his, causing Poe to groan deeply in his chest and he wrapped a hand around her to clutch at her tunic. Had it only been a day since he felt her skin against his? It seemed like so much longer now…

Jayah pulled away, reluctantly he was happy to note, and took a shuddering breath as she touched her forehead to his again. “We’re a pair in a pod, aren’t we?” she mumbled, giving him a tired smile as her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

Poe felt a shiver of his own flit down his spine as he nodded and found his voice, “I wouldn’t want to share my pod with anyone else, though,” he told her.

That brought a brighter smile to her face, which made him happier by far. She leaned forward and barely kissed his lips, lingering on his bottom one. He groaned again, wanting more, but knowing deep down this wasn’t the time or the place. Poe pulled back again, his eyes raking over her face to see if she was in anymore distress as his hand gently combed through her hair.

“You’re here with me, Jayah. That says a lot,” he told her firmly. “You are brave. You’re one of us.”

She swallowed hard before she took his face in her hands again. Her gaze met his, eyes serious, “And you’re a good man, Poe Dameron. Don’t forget it.”

He chuckled softly, sealing their words to each other with another kiss. “We should get some sleep.”

As he started to move, however, Jayah wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his shoulder, “Can we just … stay like this a bit longer?”

Poe smiled, wrapping both arms around her and holding her close, “Yeah. I’d like that.”


	4. Chapter 3: Echoes of the Past

The first thing Jayah registered was the sound of water dripping near her — how close wasn’t determined until she felt a drop on her outstretched arm. Lazily, she blinked her eyes open to see the sunlight fighting its way into the small post. A rain storm must have just rolled through, she gathered, given the soft dripping water and the distant rumbles of thunder. 

Jayah shifted, feeling Poe’s warm body curled into her from behind and his arm heavy on her hip. The position caused her to smile softly and snuggle back into him more. On a remote deserted planet in the middle of nowhere, Jayah felt more at home in Poe’s arms than she had anywhere else in her entire life. 

She was content to slip back into slumber, comforted by the man wrapped around her, but the sound of BB-8 rolling toward them as quiet as he obviously could be had her eyes popping open again. 

“What is it, BB?” she asked him, knowing the droid was leery to disturb them. 

It beeped softly — there were some creatures approaching from the south and scans made them appear very large, and a bit more intimidating than the birds from yesterday. 

That got her attention. “You think they are headed straight for us?” she whispered, moving to sit up, taking Poe’s arm gently off her. 

BB-8 chirped — if they hold their course, then yes. 

Jayah sat up, reaching for her nearby blaster, “Let’s go check it out.” 

The little droid rolled back indignantly — without Poe?! 

She smiled, patting its small dome head as she pulled on her boots, “We won’t go far. If they are as close as you say they are, we can just see them from this post.”

BB-8 didn’t seemed convinced — shouldn’t we at least wake Poe up? What if he comes looking for us? 

Jayah sighed; okay, BB-8 had a point there. Her sudden desire to rush out for adventure came from nowhere, she realized, but there was something about being off Felucia, exploring a new planet with Poe and BB-8 that just … made her feel so much more alive than she had in years. And she had been so used to just  _ doing  _ things without a thought to anyone else, she neglected to realize how confused or worried Poe might be if he woke and she wasn’t there.

Jayah pursed her lips and thought, “How about this, little guy,” she started, coming back to kneel in front of him, “You stay here so Poe knows where I’ve gone, and I’ll go check out these things?”

BB-8 wobbled with uncertainty.

She smiled, hoping to ease its worries, “I’ll be fine. I promise. I know how to take care of myself. I won’t be gone long, okay?” 

Before she could allow him to protest her further, she hopped to her feet and quietly scurried to climb out the back hole in the post’s wall. Since the fortification was built into the hill, Jayah used the natural rise of the land to scurry up to a high point. The morning sun was bright, compared to the deary feel of the day before, and filtered through the trees just enough to warm her skin. The air was so much lighter here than it had been on Felucia VI, and Jayah relished in the freedom it brought to her. No heaviness from humidity or heat. Just a comfortableness that filled her from head to toe. 

She kept as low to the ground as she could while climbing to the top of hill. BB-8 seemed to think these creatures were just another set of animals occupying the planet, but Jayah knew better than to underestimate a scan. Even if they weren’t intelligent, they still could be extremely dangerous if threatened. 

Once at the top, Jayah crawled to the edge, hiding herself well in the brush and grass. From her perch, the creatures had not become visible yet, but she could see faint silhouettes in the morning light as they were grazing and moving about. Carefully, she moved her blaster from her hip to prop in the grass before her, should she need it. 

Slowly but surely, the beasts started to come into view, a good distance back from the outpost. Jayah watched, intrigued as the pack — they resembled giant bears of some sort, but burlier and … just  _ big _ — meandered through the obvious berry bushes nearby. Jayah kept the safety notched tightly on the blaster as she leaned against it and watched the creatures move for a little bit. They definitely look intimidating, but the longer she observed, the more she could tell they were peaceful creatures. The babies running about the mothers were adorable...

And they were all strangely keeping a very wide berth of outpost. They didn’t seem scared or anymore alert than she would expect … they just didn’t near the hillside at all.

_ Huh _ . 

A light tap on her calf startled her briefly, causing her to whip around and sigh as Poe crawled up beside her. 

“How long you been up here?” he whispered as he settled in next to her. 

Jayah looked up, trying to gauge how the sun had moved during her observations. “Umm, maybe about half an hour? You were dead asleep,” she smiled, gently nudging him as she spoke softly. 

Poe, however, did not look entirely amused, “You really shouldn’t go off without telling me.” 

She gave him a bemused smile as he settled in next to her, “I left BB-8 with instructions. Plus, it took you only a few seconds to scramble your sleepy ass up here.” 

He rolled his eyes before he looked out over at the creatures milling around, still a good distance away. “And what about them, huh?” he whispered. 

Jayah patted the blaster gently, “Only if necessary. But look,” she leaned against him as she pointed out the cubs first and then swept her finger to show him the pattern they were taking. “Won’t even come close to here. They haven’t passed that mark a few hundred yards out since BB-8 scanned them.” 

Poe furrowed his brow, “Why won’t they come closer?” 

“I think they know the outpost is here,” she replied, moving the blaster back to the holster on her thigh. “Think about it — if this thing was up and going, blasters on top would reach about that range.”

“But the Rebels have been gone for decades,” he answered, brown eyes squinting just slightly as he watched the creatures continue on. “Why would they still avoid this place?” 

Jayah shrugged, “Survival.” Her eyes ran over the pack of bears again as they all started drifting further into the trees and along their route. “When I first built my hut on Felucia VI, the animals kept coming up to it, like there was nothing to worry about. When I started scaring them off, hunting around the hut, they stopped coming so close.” 

Once the bears were out of sight, Jayah sat up, brushing the grass and dirt from her tunic. “They learned and they remembered. And over the years, they continued to keep their distance. It just becomes ingrained in them,” she finished. 

Poe rolled over on his back, staring up at the sky for a moment before sitting up next to her, “But over time, over decades, if you stopped firing at them, they would come back. That had to have happened here. With no one here, why would they still avoid it?” 

She worried on her lower lip, a few possibilities running through her mind. “Maybe,” she started, moving to sit closer to him, “the Rebels left up security when they left? The Alliance really coveted this base — when we found it and told Leia, she was adamant we never speak of it again. Even she didn’t want to know where it was.” 

“So they left, but they made sure it was protected, in case Imperial troops stumbled on it,” Poe sussed out, looking out at the landscape behind the hill. “Makes a lot of sense. We should probably have BB-8 look for any active weapons systems or energy outputs,” he said. 

She nodded, “That’s a good idea.” 

The two sat in silence for a moment and when Jayah chanced a look back over at him, he was frowning a bit, staring out ahead of him. His confession last night to her had not really made her think any different of him — and that’s what she suspected he had been anticipating. But she was the last person in the galaxy to judge someone. If anything, in the same situation, Jayah did poorly compared to Poe. She abandoned everyone — he kept fighting. 

When he sighed deeply and scrubbed the back of his neck, Jayah leaned over and pushed his shoulder. Catching him off guard, Poe tumbled onto his back with an “oof” and looked up at her in confusion. 

Grinning brightly at her handiwork, Jayah leaned down, draping her body over top of his, “Good morning,” she said softly, pressing her lips against his. 

Poe let out a huff of a laugh, but the mirth didn’t reach his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her middle, holding her against him, “Hey,” he replied, kissing the tip of her nose. After a moment, he reached up and carded a hand through her hair. “You gave me a scare this morning, you know.” 

Jayah shrugged, avoiding his eyes and picking at a spot on his shirt. “I left BB-8 to tell you where I was. And I didn’t go far, I knew to stay out of sight,” she mumbled. 

His hand came back and cupped her chin, tipping her face up to meet his eyes again. “I’m not saying I don’t trust you to take care of yourself. I know you can. I just … worried, that’s all,” he said. 

She pursed her lips, trying to not grin out right, “Are you saying you  _ care _ about me, Commander Dameron?” 

He chuckled, leaning up and kissing her again, “You bet your ass I do, Commander Kryal.” 

Jayah felt herself flush before she pulled in a deep breath and sat up, “We should probably get going. Day’s already wasting.” 

As the two trudged back down into the outpost, chatting a bit about their plan to tackle the day, BB-8 poked his head out of the base and rattled off a quick binary — the comm link was buzzing. 

“Shit,” Poe mumbled, sprinting ahead of Jayah down the incline and hopping over the rubble back into the outpost. 

When Jayah stepped inside as well, he already had the comm link in his hand and was checking in. “ — landed and made a bit of progress. We think we’ve located the base and we can get there today,” he spoke evenly. “How are things on your end?” 

The comm rattled with static before Leia’s strong voice came through. “About the same. Hopping around like a bunch of damn jittery droids. 3PO is lucky I haven’t blasted him to bits after this,” she said, sounding exasperated. “I wanted to check in because we’re about to jump base and I won’t be able to contact you for two days. Poe, the First Order is ramping up their efforts to find us and we’re running out of places to go. You and Jayah have to find that outpost and get back to us as soon as you can.” 

Poe turned and looked at Jayah, his eyes carrying the same amount of concern she felt thrum through her. 

“I understand, General. We’ll get there today and sort it out. When you’re settled, let us know and we’ll head to you,” he told her, keeping his voice confident. 

Jayah didn’t feel as confident. 

“Poe, I can’t say enough to you how imperative time is. You have to hurry — I’m running out of friends who owe me favors,” Leia said, voice sombre. 

Poe drew in a deep breath, “Understood.” 

When the communications ended, Jayah pursed her lips, “She’s more worried than she’s trying to let on,” she said softly. 

He nodded, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck, “My recovery from the crash took a huge dent out of the amount of time I had for the mission. She was expecting me back by now, and I …” 

“Hey,” Jayah interrupted him, feeling his anxiety bubble and build. She put a hand on his shoulder and moved to catch his gaze as he dipped his head. “Do not do that, okay? Don’t go there. Now is not the time.” 

He dragged in a heavy breath and nodded, “Yeah. Yeah you’re right.” He swallowed hard and looked at her, determination back in his eyes. “We best get moving.” 

They quickly packed up what supplies they dug out to use and made sure the fire from the night before was thoroughly doused. It didn’t take them long for them to sling their packs on and follow BB-8 onto the new path. It was a nice hike, if Jayah were to be honest. The two of them did not need to break often — Leia’s voice on the comm link earlier seeming to drive them on from across the galaxy. They only stopped when the sun was high and there was some shade to rest and eat a little for lunch. 

Jayah felt at ease with the time they were making — after only a few hours, BB-8 alerted them to a large structure a few hundred yards ahead of them, which he was certain was the main base they had been searching for. 

Poe looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the light filtering through, “We made pretty great time. Let’s get in there and check out the damage.” 

He stepped forward, but Jayah grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop, “Wait, remember the outpost?”

Poe smiled, taking her hand, “That’s why we go in the back way.”

Jayah frowned as he guided her through the trees, “Rebel bases don’t have back ways.”

“Sure they do,” he answered. 

She wasn’t convinced. But Poe moved through the trees and brush as if he knew a path only he could see. Almost as if he had been through the forests of Kaladria before. 

“Poe,” Jayah started as he continued on. “Are you sure…”

“Can’t you see it?” he asked, stopping briefly to turn back to her. 

She shook her head, “See what?” 

Poe looked at her in confusion before turning and pointing forward, drawing a curved line in the air, “The path through the trees. It’s clearly a back path — lots of the Rebel and Resistance bases have them, you just have to know the tell signs.” 

Jayah saw nothing, and turned to him with a raised skeptical brow. But Poe laughed it off, taking her hand and pulling her along. 

“Come on, just trust me,” he said. 

She was surprised as he weaved and guided them along a trek that seemed nothing like a path to her. Every time Jayah thought she caught sight of the way he was leading them, she would quickly see how wrong she was. 

“Poe,” she started softly as they stepped over a log. “Have you been able to always do this?” 

“Do what?” he said, not looking back at her. 

“See paths that no one else can?” she asked point blank.

That had him chuckling and glancing back at her, “I don’t believe you can’t see this. You’re a pilot too, come on.” 

“What does a pilot have to do with it?” she asked with a scoff. 

Poe stopped, looking at her now in confusion. “Well… I mean, in … dog fights. Seeing the paths through the skirmish. Where you need to strike the Destroyers and other ships,” he said as if it were the most obvious thing. 

Jayah’s brows knitted, “Poe, you do realize that’s not how it works right. That’s skill and instinct you build through experience.” 

“Yeah, but,” he started back down the path, “it’s pretty clear where you need to go when you look.” 

She pursed her lips to keep from chuckling. “You aren’t Force sensitive are you?” 

“What? No, of course not. I hit negative in the tests,” he countered with a scoff and a laugh. “You?” 

Jayah knew of the test he mentioned — when recruits came into the New Republic Naval Academy, they were given a basic series of tests to see if new pilots had any chance of being Force sensitive. There were no Jedi temples or masters anymore, of course, to teach them, but Jayah always felt like it was a way to keep track of people the Republic was secretly afraid off. When she tested negative, she had never been more thankful. She had been a foster kid her entire life — the last thing she wanted was to continued to be monitored as if she were a possible problem. 

“I hit nothing, thank the stars,” she replied to him.

He looked back at her with a brow raised, “You didn’t want to register?” 

Jayah shook her head, “I don’t care what they told us. Everyone still fears Force users of any caliber.” She paused and took a deep breath, “There was a girl once, in the orphanage, who was tested early. She was like, 11 years old. She didn’t even test high. She was taken out and we never saw her again. They told us she was sent to a foster home where she could learn how to use the Force, but I didn’t believe it for a second.” 

Poe stopped walking again, looking at her with wide eyes, “You don’t think…” 

She shrugged, “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s easy when you’re young to dream up conspiracies. I found out later there was a place of sorts. A school for young users to learn. But it was so off the radar, when I first asked about it in academy, I got a written warning to lay off.” 

He looked astonished. “Wow…” He swallowed hard, and shook his head, “No wonder you were happy you didn’t hit.” 

“Yeah,” she swallowed hard. She didn’t add how all the other younger kids cried at night, worried they would be next. Jayah and a few of the older kids spent weeks trying to soothe their fears while also wondering if they would be next. 

“Let’s keep going, we have to be close,” she said, her voice a little rougher than she wanted it to sound. 

Poe squeezed her hand, “Yeah, we’re close. I think it’s just over there.” 

And again, he was right. Just through the trees, Jayah began to see the outline of the building and then it was there as if it had manifested from nothing. It was like most bases housed on forest planets and moons that she had been on. A squat building, covering a good acreage, with vegetation and other cloaking devices on top. There was nothing spectacular about Rebellion bases; they were crude more often than not, serving many purposes, but mostly to conceal. 

“Just over here,” Poe whispered, more to himself it seemed as he pulled Jayah toward the building.

BB-8 rolled behind them, chirping quietly that there were not signatures of heat or energy that were causing his sensors to alert. That was a good sign. Jayah followed Poe as he came up to the side of the building, taking a moment to look down the lines of the structure. He took a step to the left and then turned back, scanning down the other way. Jayah pursed her lips, still wondering what it was he could see. 

Suddenly, his eyes got wide and he moved forward, taking about five steps before he came up to the side of the building. He looked up and down, then pressed his palms against the rusted metal and pushed. BB-8 whirled in quiet excitement as the metal shifted, groaned, creaked, and … popped open, revealing a concealed door. 

“See,” Poe said, turning to her with a smirk. “Back door.” 

Jayah scoffed with a grin and shook her head. “Show off,” she muttered. 

He winked at her and let BB-8 roll up to the new entrance. “Okay, buddy. Do your stuff.” 

BB-8 beeped an affirmative and turned its gaze into the compound, whirling as its scans began. As they waited, Jayah turned and scanned the areas near the front and back of the building with her own gaze. It seemed weird, but … it looked like there were were odd shapes near the front entrance. 

“What do you think those are?” she whispered, tugging on Poe’s arm and pointing over to the pile of what like bleached logs of wood. 

“Huh,” he commented, turning his gaze to where she pointed. “I’m not sure really.” 

BB-8 swiveled its head as the scan continued and beeped a few lines to them — they are animals bones, it said.

“Well, poor things must have kicked over right there,” Poe muttered, turning back to poke his head into the compound. 

Jayah couldn’t look away, however. Something tugged in her, telling her this wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. Her skin prickled almost as if her body was pre-empting her for an attack she was sure wouldn’t come. Her hand even reached for her blaster…

BB-8 whirled and dropped into the compound — all clear! 

“Good job, buddy,” Poe said, taking a step behind the droid into the building. “Jayah?” 

Jayah pursed her lips and let her hand drop from the hilt of her blaster, “Yeah, I’m coming.” 


	5. Chapter 4: Rebel Remains

The inside of the compound was dark, a lot darker than what Jayah was expecting — she wasn’t quite sure why that was. A lot of bases kept the lights low, to avoid heat-seeking detection and whatnot. Plus this base had been abandoned for at least 30 years. But this darkness … it unnerved her. BB-8 lit up the space before them and Poe pulled a couple glowrods out of his pack as they made their way down the hallway they entered.

BB-8 chirped as its rolled ahead of them — if its scans were correct, the main command room wasn’t far from their current location.

“Maybe we can get the lights on,” Poe muttered to the droid as they followed. Jayah couldn’t agree more.

Everything seemed fairly intact — the officers and pilots quarters made up the hallway they traveled down at the moment. Classically small and pushed together to accommodate as many people as possible. BB-8 rolled along without any fear, which Jayah wished she could say she was able to. Her hand seemed to be permanently glued to her blaster at her side as she followed Poe. His profile was outlined with the neon green glow of the rod — it casted odd shadows across his face and had Jayah feeling even more on edge.

Heaving a sigh, she turned her face from looking at him and instead concentrated on the features around her. “I have a bad feeling about this. Like we’re missing something,” she muttered more to herself than anyone else.

“We’re only in one hallway. There’s a lot we’re missing,” Poe muttered back. With a turn of his head, she was able to catch the smirk on his face.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him between his shoulders, “Asshole.”

BB-8 chirped and rolled around a corner quickly — flight deck!

“Oh goodie, home away from home,” Poe remarked as they followed the droid.

The flight deck was impressive — effective with space clearly and completely littered with random boxes of junk.

“Maybe they had to leave in a hurry,” Jayah mumbled, coming up to one of the boxes and pulling out a tool. “These are all tech toolboxes.”

Poe hummed in agreement, examining a broken holopad. “It does seem like they skipped out quickly. Maybe they were called out,” he said, turning it over and seeing if the device would power up. It didn’t.

A few feet away, at the start of another hallway, BB-8 rolled into view — control center is down this way. Everything seems clear so far.

“BB-8,” Jayah started as they began their trek down the new hallway, “What is the structural integrity of the entire compound? Is it holding up well?”

Sure is, BB-8 answered. Could use some general maintenance, but it wouldn’t know more until it plugged into a port and assessed things from the command center.

“Make sure to get readings on the medic wing too, BB,” Poe said as they moved.

For some reason, the statement made Jayah’s stomach turn. It was standard procedure — get the command center on lockdown, then the medic wing. Still, the thought of needing to immediately accommodate wounded Resistance fighters didn’t sit well.

The door to the command center was sealed shut once they reached it. BB-8 couldn’t unlock it from the port outside, so Poe and Jayah had to find a piece of metal rubble to jam between the frame and door. After a few minutes, the two were able to force it open slowly. Jayah’s arms burned as Poe dropped the metal piece and allowed BB-8 into the room first.

The musty air washed over Jayah and was enough to make her cough softly. By the time she realized she had been hesitant to step into the room, Poe and BB-8 had started to poke around. She cautiously stepped over the threshold, trying to get her bearings as Poe shuffled around one of the command stations.

“She’s a little slow, but she’s still operational — ready for start up and commands,” he said quietly, poking at some buttons before turning toward BB-8. “Ready to hook up, buddy?”

The little droid beeped an affirmative before rolling over to the side control panels near Poe’s legs, popping open the case and connecting to the computer. A few sparks flew out to BB-8’s chagrin, but soon, the droid was working through the mess with ease.

Jayah sighed, headed over to a separate panel and tried to fire it up, “Slow is putting it mildly, Poe. This place needs a lot of work to house the Resistance.”

“Well,” he started, finding another stack of holopads which he started to go through, “It could be worse. Could be a big heap of rubble.”

She pursed her lips, looking around, “Yeah, I guess you have a point there.”

The silence was unnerving, only occasionally punctuated by BB-8’s working to get the computer up and going.

“I think these are logs from the base general,” Poe muttered, a holovid lighting up in front of him. There was no picture of this said General, but a transcript. As Jayah made her way over to Poe’s side, a gargled voice came through the holopad.

“General Dana Rohtul, Log Entry number … Stars, I forget at this point,” the female voice flooded through.

Jayah leaned against Poe to follow the transcript as the two of them followed along with the General’s voice.

“It’s been at least 32 hours since we’ve heard from Command. My sources reported back to me yesterday about Alderaan and I’m honestly … I’m avoiding telling the crew here,” Rothul spoke quietly. “It’s bad enough to feel as if you are regulated to being useless on a hidden post. If I tell them of the destruction of an entire planet and the probable death of Senator Bail Organa, well … I’ll do it in the morning. Best to let them have at least one more night of sleep.”

“So they were hidden from everyone,” Poe said softly, picking through the list of log entries. “This base was a back up plan, it seems.”

“It’s smart,” Jayah replied, her voice catching a bit. “Playing close to the vest like that. Makes sense that Leia didn’t want my squadron to tell even her.”

“General Dana Rohtul, Log Entry number 542. Command is instructing us to stay put. Even though the thought makes my skin crawl, knowing that … Death Star or whatever they are calling it is roaming through space blowing things up,” she paused with a heavy sigh. “Everyone is getting restless. But orders are orders. Last reports were the Empire had learned of the Rebel base on Yavin IV. I pray they get out … or that someone blows that damn weapon to pieces.”

“Well, she got her wish,” Jayah said under her breath as Poe moved onto the next holopad.

“How you doing over there, BB-8?” Poe asked before starting the next log.

The droid swiveled his head and beeped — slow going, but progress was steady at least.

Poe nodded and hit the next file.

“General Dana Rohtul, Log Entry number 680.” There was a long pause as the General sighed deeply. “Command has gone underground. They’ve advised me to do the same — no transports in or out, no supply runs, no recon missions. Sit tight, they say, Dana we’ll need you to be patient just a bit longer. Easy to say when they are out there, fighting, while my troops sit here, on the brink of a brawl just to have something to do.”

“Seems a little weird to just keep them here like this,” Jayah said softly as the General continued on about the turmoil of holding her troops together. “At this point, the Empire is clearly gunning hard for the Rebels. Leia and the Command have more than likely been run off Hoth … why not come here?”

“Strategy,” Poe answered quietly, clicking through the files of the holopad before ditching it and picking up another. “Leia plays it close to the vest, and she won’t throw that life-saving Ace until she’s got nothing else. Even then, she’ll hold onto it if she thinks she’s got a couple more breaths left in her.”

Pursing her lips, Jayah looked around the darkened command center, “Yeah, that sounds like Leia all right.”

Thirty or more years after the Empire has fallen and Leia finally felt like she was on her last breath. It wasn’t an encouraging thing to think, but nevertheless, here they were. Jayah continued to scan the shadows laid out before her in the room. It was going to take every last breath and person the Resistance had to get this place back up and running. Each station looked way beyond its time of use and each corner seemed to be the permanent home of decommissioned service droids.

Not exactly a picture to project hope.

“Here we go,” Poe said, clicking through the holopad. “This might be a bit closer to what we’re hoping for.”

“General Dana Rohtul, Log Entry number 746. I don’t give a kriff what Command says — we need to know what’s going on. The latest intel we were able to scrounge from listening devices said that Princess Organa had gone off radar. Others were lying low as well. But I have nothing to confirm that,” Rohtul spoke hard, her decision clear in her voice before she even said the words. “So I’m sending out a squad in 2 hours. They have explicit instructions for recon only.”

She paused again and Jayah could almost feel the distress coming from the General. “I just hope I’m doing the right thing,” Rohtul said softly before ending the recording.

The lights flickered but didn’t stay on as the recording ended and BB-8 beeped in a clear frustrated tone from its position at the far control panel.

“She giving you fits, buddy?” Poe asked as he picked up the final holopad in the stack before them.

BB-8 beeped in a deep tone again — fits was putting it lightly; the computer wasn’t cooperating at all.

“Well, just try to finesse her, BB. Sweet talk her a little bit,” Poe replied.

Jayah looked over at him and cocked an eyebrow, “Is this the strategy you boys take with all difficult women in your life?”

He paused and looked up from the holopad, smirking at her, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

She rolled her eyes, “Play the damn log already.”

Poe chuckled softly before doing as she asked.

“General Dana Rohtul, Log Entry number 825.” The General’s voice was so much lighter than it had been, Jayah felt taken by surprise. “We’ve just gotten word of the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of the Emperor at the Battle of Endor.” Rohtul laughed, “To say my troops are excited is putting it lightly. But the war isn’t over yet. I haven’t told everyone, but Command has given instructions to shut this base down. We’re being called out to finish off the Empire and I know I speak for everyone here when I say we’re going to do so with gusto.”

She paused for a moment before her quiet voice continued. “I never thought I would see this day. The fall of the Empire? Thank the stars.”

The recording ended and BB-8 got the lights to flicker on for a moment longer. Jayah pulled in a deep breath.

“So, they had orders to leave, shut down the base,” she started. “Then why the hell does this place look like it was evacuated on a hustle? Like they had no choice?”

Poe hummed in agreement, “Maybe they got orders last minute? Or maybe the orders never came — my mom used to talk about how things really were more disorganized in the final days of the war than they were after big hits.”

Jayah couldn’t argue with that. Still, it seemed rather odd to decommission one of the best bases they had and leave it a complete mess…

“Okay, here it is. Her last log,” Poe’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

“General Dana Rohtul, Log Entry number 857. We’ve had no word on where to move, and I’m tired of sitting,” she said, her voice low and almost defeated. “We’re supposed to be winning — but why does it feel like we’ve lost something?”

BB-8 got the lights to flicker again and Jayah found her attention quickly drawn away from the holopad and Rohtul’s voice. Was it her imagination, or did the droids in the corner just move?

“We can’t wait any longer for Command. Our recon group has brought back information about a battle about to go down on Jakku, of all places. But we’re going to be there,” she continued.

The lights flickered again. The hair on the back of Jayah’s neck stood up on end.

“We’re going to lock this base down, should it ever come in handy for the future. I have Mav, my top tech, going through every service bot in this facility. We’re going to fortify the compound as much as we can before departing as quickly as we can,” Rohtul said sternly.

“So they did muster out quick,” Poe said under his breath.

The screens around them flickered to life and once again, Jayah’s eyes were fixated on the droids in the corner. “Poe,” she started.

“I’m going to do all I can to keep this base a secret, should it be needed again in the future. Mav assures me she can do it. She’s going to rig the place to man its own defenses — cannons on the posts and the front of the compound. No one is going to get through that front door without a fight,” Rohtul’s voice was starting to break up a little bit over the holopad’s small speaker.

The computers above the station where BB-8 was plugged in flickered on and booted up. The droids over in the corner seemed to fall over — Jayah’s hand went to her blaster. “Poe, we need to move.”

“We’re giving Mav every last one of the service droids in this building and arming them. If someone gets through the front or breaks in the back, the moment they start operating systems, the droids will activate,” Rohtul’s voice cut through the noise of the droids moving and grinding against the amount of disuse. “The moment the lights come on, they’ll be blown away. I promised Command this base would be protected; I intend to make good on that. Long live the Rebellion.”

In quite a dramatic fashion, several things happened all at once as the recording ended. The lights powered up strongly, all stations in the command room lighting up as well. BB-8 whirled with delight as it swiveled toward Jayah and Poe.

Jayah’s head whipped back around to see the droids all stand, outdated blasters in their mechanical arms raised and aimed right at her and Poe. The first shot whipped past her and she moved quickly, pushing Poe to the ground and behind the control panel next to them. Two more shots went off in BB-8’s direction and Jayah took advantage of the distraction, popping up and taking aim. The old Empire-age droids were always slow, but now they clunked along and made easy targets — she picked off two quickly and darted back down before the others could aim and fire.

“Well, this is going great,” Poe said, following Jayah’s lead and standing to take out another droid. “BB-8, you over there!”

The small round droid beeped in an affirmative before it beeped indignantly as shots were fired at it.

“We gotta get BB-8 out of fire,” Jayah said. “There’s maybe a couple more in here, but if Rohtul’s recording is right, there’s a lot more on base, headed straight for this spot.”

Poe poked his head around before a blaster shot forced him back behind the safety of the control. “The port he was at is fried. And if those droids keep at it, they will disable more of the panels.”

Jayah pursed her lips and looked around, an idea popping into her head. “You get to BB-8, and I’ll take care of the droids.”

“Jayah,” Poe said, voice low in a warning.

“I’ll be fine. We’ve gotta get the defense program shut down, or we’re going to have a bigger problem on our hands,” she argued.

His brown eyes narrowed as the droids footsteps clanked against the metal floors. “What are you going to do?” he asked.

She smiled, “If I told you, you wouldn’t like it.”

Then, before he could argue further with her, she moved past him to make a go for another control panel, which drew the attention of the droids toward her. As the blaster shots ricocheted off the panel above her, Jayah saw Poe dart around and toward BB-8 out of the corner of her eye.

Once he was out of sight, Jayah jumped up again, taking aim and destroying another droid. Before she ducked down, she counted five more left. And all five were clanking toward her new position. Ducked down, she peaked around the edge, only having to dart back as one mindful droid took a shot at the bottom portion of the control panel.

“Poe! Tell me you got BB-8 near a port!” she called out, her mind racing with a new plan.

“There’s one just behind them!” his voice carried back. “I can get him back there if…”

“Of course,” Jayah mumbled under her breath. Scanning the back of the room before her, she knew she had one shot.

“Okay, get ready to go for it,” she told him, adjusting her grip on her blaster.

“Jayah, don’t do anything stupid,” Poe answered, his tone dark.

“We got one chance at this,” she answered instead. “On three.”

Jayah closed her eyes and tried to remember everything she had just taken a glance at and how the droids had been formed in front of her. “One. Two. Three!”

She jumped to her feet, turned straight at the droids, and fired, picking off another two. As the remaining three approached her, firing off their blasters, Jayah moved steadily, taking sure steps backward as she continued to fire at the droids. Another fell quickly, but the blast shots from the others threw her off as she ducked down. Not on good footing, she took aim and missed her next shot.

Keeping herself calm, she dodged to the side, the droids missing her again. The move was the last opening she needed and she raised her blaster, pulling the trigger on the first, then the second droid. A smile curled her lips as the last of the droids crumbled to the floor.

“Poe, you got BB in?” she asked.

At the sound of his name, Poe stood. Jayah’s eyes went wide as he raised his blaster toward her and fired. A second later, another droid fell to the ground behind her. Jayah let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding as she looked from the droid back to Poe.

“That was close,” he said, scruffing the back of his neck with one hand. “And yes, BB-8 is in the system. Disabling the program now, aren’t you buddy?”

BB-8 whirled from somewhere near Poe — one second … Yes, defense program is officially shut down.

Jayah could swear she heard all the droids in the facility fall back into disuse where they stood around the base. Whether she truly had or not, the thought was reassuring enough as she placed her blaster back in her holster and walked over to Poe, surveying the damage.

“I hope Leia still has some good techs left. Those droids sure are shit shots, but maybe that was the point,” she said, poking at the console next to her that had sustained a few scorch marks.

“Yeah, I’m starting to think that. Dummy droids don’t last long in fire fights. It’s smart to have them start to take out control panels to avoid access to systems,” he answered before she heard him move across the room. She was startled when she felt him brush his fingertips across her cheek, “You didn’t come out unscathed unfortunately,” Poe commented softly, fingers moving along her jawline now. 

Jayah furrowed her brow in confusion and reached up, grimacing at the sting she felt. A cut, most likely, from flying debris. “It’s nothing,” she said automatically, bringing her hand down to look at the small smear of blood that touched her finger tips. 

“It’s something,” he commented, a frown on his face as . “I need to clean it.” 

With her adrenaline wearing down, she could sense some tension rolling off him. Jayah reached up and covered his hand still cupping her cheek. “Hey, I’m okay,” she said softly. 

Poe pursed his lips and shook his head, turning her face a bit so he could look at the cut straight on, “That was pretty reckless what you did.” 

“So was flying an X-Wing in a wind storm,” she replied, smiling to break the solemn look on his features. When it didn’t work, she turned to look at him again and pulled his hand away, covering it in both of hers. “We’re pilots in the Resistance. Little recklessness comes with the job.” 

His dark brown eyes searched over her features, not looking entirely convinced of what she was saying. “You gave me a scare, you know. Just standing there and shooting while they shot back.” His voice was soft and she could hear the fear that still lingered there. 

Jayah stepped up close to him, pressing one of her hands to his cheek now, “Empire-age droids are horrid shots. If we had been in different positions, you would have done the same.” 

Poe opened his mouth to argue but then closed it, bowing his head to press his forehead against hers, “Still.” 

She smiled softly and leaned forward to peck his lips, “It’s in the past now. So let’s think on what we do now?” 

BB-8 beeped up at the two pilots — since it would take them a day to get back to the A-wing and it was almost dark, they could stay at the compound and he could get the other systems checked.

“Not a bad idea, buddy,” Poe commented with a smile. One hand found her hip and he squeezed gently, “What do you think?”

She was surprised that her immediate first thought was she wanted off planet — she wanted to be tucked somewhere safe with Poe so he wouldn’t worry and that they wouldn’t have to think about being shot at. 

“Sounds like a plan.”


	6. Chapter 5: Nighttime Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Soundtrack: “Winter 2011″ by City of the Sun and “Lesson One” by John Williams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… I promise, this is going somewhere. xoxo

**[Chapter 5: Nighttime Thoughts]**

Jayah was sore and tired. Bone deep tired. She hadn’t even been like this when she was nursing Poe back to health on Felucia VI. It was like a compound of physical and plain mental exhaustion. **  
**

The odd thing about all of it was they really had not done a lot. Moved and piled all the droids out of the command center was first. Then they searched for the medical bay, which unfortunately was a little too worse for wear for comfort. Finally she and Poe made it back to the flight deck, rolling tech carts out of the way and seeing if anything in them was of use. Not much, after 30 years of disuse.

As night time rolled over Kaladria, Poe convinced Jayah to find a clean officer’s quarters they could bunk in while he encrypted a message to relay out to the General. She grudgingly obliged. He was still acting a bit over protective of her after the droid fight and honestly she was too tired to push back on the matter.

Opening the fourth door down the hallway they had initially come in from, she levied a heavy sigh at the room’s disrepair. It wasn’t a total loss in regards of use, but it would need to be severely cleaned and set to rights. And Poe and Jayah didn’t have the time for it. So it was on to the next one.

Her mind focused on turning over all they had uncovered and seen in the base since they arrived that morning. So many things a mess, as if utter chaos reigned when the Rebels had mustered out. If the recordings of Commander Rohtul were anything to go by, they been given orders to move out and enough time to put things to order before leaving. So why then had they not? It shouldn’t have mattered, and at this point it didn’t matter at all, but something niggled Jayah’s thoughts.

 

_Perhaps it’s just exhaustion_ , she thought to herself. Or maybe it was her brain attempting to forget what was really bothering her — the fact they were spending another night on Kaladria when she wanted nothing more than to get gone.

“No point in worrying about it now,” she said under her breath as she opened another door. Relief flooded over her as her gaze took in a room that was not in shambles. It was sparse at best, but it definitely would do for their one night rest. **  
**

Walking in, Jayah set down her pack on the small round table in the center and turned in a circle. Only bad thing was the dust.

_Well, beggars cannot be choosers._

And so she set to work, taking a tattered sheet from the top of the bed and going around to dust with it. After that was fluffing out the bed and laying out her sleeping pack on the bunk for her and Poe to sleep on — his could be their cover.

She was so wrapped up in finishing some of the cleaning, Jayah didn’t register the sound of BB-8 rolling into the room. When the droid beeped at her about a charging station, she felt like she jumped five feet. What was _wrong_ with her? 

Between the two of them, they got BB set up, charging, and shut down for the night with little trouble. Afterward, Jayah found herself slowly lowering herself to the edge of the bed and covering her face with her hands.

This feeling of dread rolled through her like an unsettled ocean. At first, part of her thought it was just her body coming down from the adrenaline hype when they battled the droids. But now, in the quiet of the living quarters, it still pulsed deep inside her. Like a warning, telling her she should be sitting up, paying attention, getting the hell out as fast as she could.

When the door of room opened again, Jayah dropped her hands and watched as an equally-exhausted Poe Dameron entered the room. He gave her a soft smile before his dark eyes cast about the area, obviously noting the space, where BB-8 was plugged in, before he dropped his pack at the end of the bed and came to gently sit next to her.

“Well, message sent. I encrypted the hell out of it, bounced it a few places. Hopefully the First Order has its gaze turned elsewhere,” he said softly.

Jayah nodded and before she could stop herself, she leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He shifted, moving his arm around her and pulling her tight against his side. They sat like that for a few long moments, Jayah closing her eyes and focusing on her and Poe’s breaths.

“You okay?” he asked softly, pressing his lips to her hair.

Jayah sighed, “I don’t know. Everything feels off.”

Poe pulled back a bit, looking at her in concerned confusion, “Off? Rattled by the droids?”

She shook her head, looking down to pick at an invisible spot on his thigh. “I can’t explain it. But it’s like there is a siren going off in my head and I don’t know what triggered it.”

He pulled in a breath before tucking her back up against his warm side. A sense of calm washed over her just at his presence and Jayah wrapped her arms around his waist, allowing herself to sink into it more.

“Maybe it’s just everything compounded together — leaving Felucia, getting here, fighting the droids. Your brain is in survival mode,” he said quietly.

Jayah found his words only caused her to tuck in against him more, “Maybe. I just know my body is screaming to get off this planet as soon as possible.”

“Well,” Poe started, shifting them both and falling back on the bed, taking her with him. The action caused her to laugh breathlessly, “That’s not happening tonight. So we might as well make the best of it, don’t you think?”

“Commander Dameron, we are on mission,” she admonished, adjusting her body now as they started to shift and move into the bed. His hands pulled her flush to his side and slide down her back while she draped herself over half his frame. “Are you suggesting we do something unbecoming two Republic Navy officers?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart,” he murmured, tipping her face up to look at him before he leaned in and pressed his mouth against hers.

Jayah wasn’t about to protest, feeling the noise in her mind quiet even more at the contact. She shifted again, moving more to hover over Poe as their slow kiss began to deepen. His hands were warm and heavy as they moved along the curves of her hips, up along her sides. There was nothing rushed between them, just slow and languid.

After a moment, Jayah felt herself pull back, gently touching her forehead against Poe’s as her body shifted backward to rest on his bent thighs. She couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes and look at him, only sit a moment and feel the quiet finally overtake her. She wanted more, _needed_ more but … her body was just so damn tired. 

“You need sleep,” Poe whispered, one hand reaching up and carding through her loose hair.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed in response, not quite sure what she was apologizing for.

His fingers cupped her cheek, “Hey, look at me,” he said softly.

When she opened her eyes, she tried to keep her exhaustion at bay long enough to continue to hold her emotions in check.

“I don’t know what that sorry is for, but you have no reason to be,” he said gently, moving his hand through her hair again. “Now, you’re going to crawl into this bed and get comfortable. I’m going to grab my sleep pack and shut off the light. Then we’re going to curl up here and get some shut eye. Sound good, sweetheart?”

Her heart jumped every time he called her that. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

Poe smiled and leaned up, gently pressing a kiss to her lips before rolling her over and going about his tasks. Jayah watched with a tired smile and toed off her boots, listening to them rattle as they fell over the end of the bed onto the floor. He pulled out his sleep pack, tossing it to her playfully, and then he hit the light.

The room was plunged into a dim, soft blue glow — typical of officers’ quarters; made it easier to see if an alarm woke you out of a dead sleep. She watched him in the odd light as she unfurled the pack over her and the top of the bed. Then she snuggled down, as if she were burrowing in a hole, and watched still as Poe moved to the edge of the bunk. He sat down, unlaced his boots, and then looked over his shoulder at her.

Jayah lifted the heavy pack, unsure if he could see her soft smile in the dark. Whether he did or not didn’t matter, because in the next moment Poe was rolling into the bed, under their make-shift cover, and wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her close and Jayah felt no shame as she wiggled as close to him as she could manage.

This felt okay. More than okay. It felt right.

And when she closed her eyes, it almost felt like being back on Felucia again.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

It was the cold that woke her.

Jayah’s eyes flew open and fixated on the wall in front of her. When her breath left her parted lips, she saw it puff out in a mist in the blue glow of the room. Poe’s arm was heavy around her waist and his chest moving against her back told her he was still asleep.

She shifted and closed her eyes again, hoping she was just imagining the sudden chill in the room. Pulling the cover up more, she let out a sigh and tried to fall back into slumber. But her mind had other plans — _Get up. Something isn’t right. Get up!_

Jayah opened her eyes again and sighed, her warm breath curling in front of her once more. Looking over her shoulder at Poe to be sure he was asleep, she cautiously moved his arm from her waist and crawled toward the end of the bed.

Standing in the center of the room, her skin almost glowing in the blue light, Jayah turned in a small circle. There was a humming sound she couldn’t explain; just loud enough to grab her attention, but apparently soft enough to keep the source hidden from her.

After turning in circles at least twice, Jayah stopped short. Ahead of her, against the far wall where she was sure there was a refresher when she first came into the room, there now stood an arched doorway. Through it, Jayah glimpsed an icy cavern of sorts, barren yet beautiful in an odd way. Her feet guided her forward and with each step closer to the mysterious doorway, the humming in her head grew louder. 

Some part of her brain registered the cold, told her something about this was not right and that she should wake up Poe. But the humming … it was so _loud_ now.

Before she realized it, Jayah had stepped through the archway and was standing in a soft blanket of snow. Tearing her eyes from the amazing blue ice walls of the cavern, she looked down to realize, it wasn’t snow … it was shaved ice. As if someone was carving out the tunnel she now stood in recently.

Her brain worked hard to rationalize what was happening, cataloging it all; her gaze traveled over her surroundings, the cold touched her skin but did not seem to affect her anymore, and the humming … the humming was growing insistent. It all overrode her rational thought and had her take more steps into the cavern, following a path she wasn’t quite aware of but somehow knew was there. It briefly occurred to her that this was what Poe had tried to explain to her earlier that day, when they walked through the forest to find the back entrance to the base … seeing a path that wasn’t there. 

Jayah wasn’t sure how long she walked down the icy tunnel, marveling at the structure around her while also following the humming in her mind. It had to have been at least 10, maybe even 20 minutes she wandered forward before her feet stopped and she suddenly found herself face to face with the wall of ice.

Everything calmed and quieted. The humming, a fever pitch now, seemed to drown out everything until Jayah was in a vacuum, hearing only her steady heart beat and breathing as she peered into the ice.

There was something there … a blue similar to the ice, but … deeper somehow. As she leaned in to examine it further, the blue color of it began to pulse, like a beacon to her. Mesmerized by it, Jayah reached up, pressing her hand against the ice and found it surprisingly warm.

“How did you get here?”

The voice startled her — not only because it seemed to come from nowhere, but also because it was strangely familiar.

Jayah stood straight and turned, seeing a dark figure lurking further down the tunnel. Dressed all in black, the person wore some type of helmet, giving their voice a mechanical tone.

“Who are you?” she asked instead, instinctively taking a few steps back down the way she had come. 

Something in her thumped with fear, not at the appearance of this new person, but at the thought of the figure discovering the pulsing blue light she had seen in the ice. Who ever this was, Jayah knew she was not prepared to face them.

“How … did _you_ get here?” the figure asked again, taking heavy steps toward her.

_Jayah?_

Another, faint voice echoed behind her, the way she had come from, causing her to turn her head and look. But there was no one there. Her fear spiked and she took more steps backward, trying to put distance between her and this dark figure before her. 

“I’ll not ask you again,” the mechanical voice rang out, the figure’s arm shooting out in front of it with a hand splayed wide.

Jayah felt her body become rigid and then slowly, as if a rope were around her, something invisible began to pull her forward. She struggled against the unseen force that worked her closer to the figure, unable to move her arms or her feet to stop herself. 

Finally, Jayah closed her eyes, “Stop!”

Her body halted again, even though she still felt the pull.

“Tell me how you are here?!” the dark voice growled again, anger coloring its tone heavily.

Jayah opened her eyes, glaring. “Let me go.”

Suddenly the force was gone and her body went lax, the ability to move her arms and legs coming back to her in an instant. If the figure was surprised by this, it did not show it. Its arm slowly lowered and moved a hand to its waist.

“Who are you?” she asked forcefully, her feet taking her two steps back from this person again.

The figure did not answer. Instead, the person began to stalk toward her, slowly at first, and then faster and faster. Its hand at its waist dropped down and Jayah caught something in its grasp. Suddenly her heart leapt into her throat.

In an instant, the figure ignited what she knew instinctively was a lightsaber, the reddish glow of the blade illuminating the cavern as it hummed to life. The figure closed in on her and Jayah stumbled for a moment before turning fully to get out of its range. She heard the buzz, the slice of the saber through the air and then …

“Jayah!”

Jayah gasped loudly as she turned and her body slammed into Poe’s. Confusion flooded her as she gripped tightly onto his arms and turned behind her to see …

Nothing.

There was no ice cavern. There was no figure stalking her with a red lightsaber. No distinct humming or cold.

The two of them were standing in the officer’s quarters, the lights on. Her breath was coming in harsh pants, the adrenaline in her veins causing her heart to pound.

“There … there was someone there!” she heard her voice cry in a panic.

Poe looked just as confused as she felt, shaking his head slightly as he kept a hold on her, “Sweetheart, there’s no one in here. Just us.” He reached up and cupped her face gently with his hands. “You are having a dream, Jayah.”

But Jayah shook her head, “No, no it was …” she paused and looked behind her again to see nothing but the wall of the quarters. “He was there! I saw him … he came at me!”

She knew what she had experienced, she knew it wasn’t a dream. She had been there. So had that dark figure.

And as Poe pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her attempting to comfort her, Jayah knew something was happening to her. Something she couldn’t explain or prevent.   


End file.
